Shoe.



'.I. E. SHAWHAN.

SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED OOI; 9, 1908.

923,083. Patented May 25, 1909.

@ya a. P I B W/rNEssEs y 'Wm ATTUHNE ys `JOHN E. SHAWHAN, F NEVADA, MISSOURI.

SHOE

Specification of Letters Patent.

n Application led October 9, 1908. Serial No. I56,863.

Patented May 25, 1909;

i To all whomit may concern:

t Be it `known `that I, JOHN E. SHAWHAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Nevada, in the county of Vernon and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Shoes, of which the followingiis a speciiication.

- This invention is an improvement in shoes and particularlyin the fastening devices of theshoe and vhas for an object to provide a novelv construction which will avoid the necessityof lacing the shoe down entirely to the base of the front opening, and will provide for preventing the gaping of the opening i below the lacesrby a construction which is conveniently securedin the shoes and held from twisting or other displacement; and the invention' consists in certain novel con structions and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

. In the drawing, Figure l is a front view of a blucher shoe, partly broken away and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front view partly kbroken away, of an ordinary form oflace shoe provided with my inven tion.L n Fig. 3 is a cross section on about line 3 3 of Figi. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the stiiiening plate, and Fig. 5 is a front view,'partly broken away, of` shoe similarto that illustrated in Fig. 2, but showing the shoe opened instead of closed as in Fig. 2.

My invention is illustrated in connection with both a blucher form of shoe as shown in Figi, and the ordinary lace shoe as shown in Fig. 2, and as it possesses special advantages in connection with the blucher form of shoe having the i'laps at the lower end of the front opening, l will iirst describe the invention in conncctionwith such form of shoe.

ln theconstruction shown in Fig. l, the

y shoe A has a front opening A, and the flaps A2 at the lower end of the said opening, the

i, upper portion of the shoe being supplied yalong the front opening withr hooks A3, and

' spring kmetal, and may be finished by nickeling, j apanning or otherwise in such manner as to avoid corrosion in use.

l form the spring with an intermediate or body portion B with a lateral outwardly projecting wing B2 at the upper end of the intermediate portion B, and with a lateral base wing` B3 extending from the lower end of the intermediate portion laterally in the same general direction as the wing B2 and curving slightly upward toward its eXtremity B4t so it will not injure the shoe when the latter is opened as shown in Fig. 5. l also bend the lower end of the spring at B5 forwardly to prevent the same from pressing the sharp edge against the foot of the wearer. The intermediate portion B of the spring is bowed or arched slightly to the front as shown in Fig. 4, to conform to the arch of the instep, and the upper' wing B2 is provided with an opening B6 which receives the lower eyelet A", as will be understood from Figs. 1, 2 and 5 ofthe drawing, such eyelet operating to hold the spring securely in place, and cooperating with the lower lateral and upwardly curved wing B3 in preventing any twisting or other displacement of the spring when the latter is applied to the shoe.

in operation the springs B are applied toV the slice between the upper leather and the lining as best shown in Fig. 3, and are stitched in place, being thus iirmly incased within the upper of the shoe and out of sight, the lateral perforated wing B2 being iirmly held by the eyelet A5 and the lower end of the spring being braced in position by the lateral outwardly curved wing B3 as before described.

In operation the lace C may be applied as shown in Fig. i, and the shoe laced and fas tened in the usual manner above the stiiiening spring. Then when it is desired to re move the shoe it is only necessary to unlace the shoe down to the eyelets A4 when the shoe may be thrown wide open avoiding the necessity of unlacing to the base of the front opening. At the same time when the shoe is laced and fastened as shown in Fig. l, the stiiiening plates, preferably of spring metal as described, will operate to hold the lower portion of the front opening closed and prevent any gaping at such point.

When the invention is used on blucher shoes as shown in Fig. 1, a separate fastening such as a strap D and buckle as shown in Fig. 1, is usually supplied to connect the opposite iiaps A2, and the special construction and tends to retain the same in the desired ilat shape.

I claiml. A shoe of the blucher type having a front opening and flaps at the lower end thereof', and provided with lacing hooks and with eyelets elow the same, and with a fastening device connecting the flaps at the lower end of the front opening of the shoe, and sti'fening plates held in the uppers ofthe shoe on opposite sides of the said opening and consisting of outwardly arched intermediate portions, laterally extending perforated wings at the upper ends thereof and receiving the lacing eyelets, and lateral outwardly extending wings at the lower ends ofthe said intermediate portions and curving upwardly toward their free extremities, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A shoe having a front opening and flaps at the lower end thereof, sti'ening plates held to the uppers adjacent to the marginal edges of the front o ening and provided at their lower ends wit i lateral outwardly extending wings, and at their upper portions with lateral outwardly extending wings per forated for the reception of eyelets, and eyelets applied through such openings, substantially as set forth.

3. A shoe having a front opening and provided with lacing hooks, and with eyelets below the same, and stiiiening plates held to the uppers of the shoe on opposite sides of the said opening, and consisting of outwardly arched intermediate portions, laterally eX- tending perforated wings at the upper ends thereof and receiving lacing eyelets, and lateral outwardly extending wings at the lower ends of the said intermediate portions and curving upwardly toward their free extremities, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

JOHN E. SHAWHAN.

litnesses 1 SoLoN C. KEMON, PERRY B. TURPIN. 

